Former Alabama great middle linebacker Rolando McClain, whom Alabama coach Nick Saban said was a coach on the field and who helped lead Alabama to their first national title since 1992 in 2009, was constantly pressured for money by his friends and family after signing a lucrative NFL contract.
McClain left the NFL and retired because he said he felt like Aaron Hernandez and “wanted to kill somebody.”
But details have come to light about why McClain may have been so angry. McClain has had numerous incidents with the law.
Drafted No. 8 overall in the draft by the Raiders in the 2009 NFL Draft and signed to a contract that guaranteed him $23 million, McClain, who was raised in a single-parent household and reportedly slept on the couches of his friends after he ran away from home at the age of 15, was repeatedly bothered for money by friends and family:
According to McClain, he developed a disdain for pro football in part because of constant requests for money from family and friends in Decatur. On the day of his most serious arrest — for discharging a firearm beside a man’s head during an altercation — McClain was in town for his grandfather’s burial, and was irked to learn that his family had arranged for a $20,000 funeral, replete with limo service, to be paid by McClain.
“I was pissed off,” he said.
He also said he “spent almost $600,000, mostly on cars, to satisfy requests for money” during a six-month span.
McClain is yet another example of an athlete, entertainer, or movie star from an impoverished background who had trouble dealing with so-called “friends” and “family” coming out of the woodwork to ride his gravy train once he made something of himself. Too often, those “friends” and “family” never have the interest of the player at heart and only serve to bring the player or celebrity down, often accusing them of “selling out” or “forgetting where they came from” if they try to use their money, fame, or education to lead decent lives.
McClain was open about the possibility of returning to his league once he is more at peace with himself and situation.
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